Saturday, 21 February 2015

Skin microbes trigger specific immune responses

The
immune system in the skin develops distinct responses to the various microbes
that naturally colonize the skin, referred to as commensals, new research in
mice shows. A research team found that each type of microbe triggers unique
aspects of the immune system, suggesting that immune cells found in the skin
can rapidly sense and respond to changes in microbial communities.

The
research showed that colonizing the skin of mice with S. epidermidis increased the number of CD8+ T immune cells, which
produced the chemical messenger IL-17A. Dendritic cells, another type of immune
cell, played a key role in generating this specific, non-inflammatory response.